OOLOGAH, Okla. –  People’s lives, woven together, form the fabric of a small town and that is certainly true in Oologah. Now its roughly 1,100 residents are struggling to comprehend what they see as a dual tragedy.

Adacia Chambers, a 2008 Oologah-Talala High School graduate they remember as quiet and kind, drove her car through a crowd at the Oklahoma State University homecoming parade Saturday killing four and critically injuring another Oologah resident, Sheri Bates, who was there to watch her daughter march in the parade.

The town’s residents have learned to deal with heartbreak by pulling together and praying. Now they’re doing just that and embracing both the Bates’ and the Chambers’ families.

Adacia Chambers’ aunt Lynda Branstetter is grateful to see her family receiving that treatment from the town she still thinks of as home.

It’s also where her niece spent a majority of her life.

The girl from Oologah

Adacia Chambers and her two younger brothers were raised by their father Floyd Chambers, a truck driver, with the help of his parents. 

“He came and went,” said Branstetter. “That’s why he moved them in with my parents and they did it with open arms. After their five kids left home, they raised three more.”

Multiple people said the Chambers family isn’t well-off but described its members as good people “who would give you the shirt off their back.” 

They lived in a modest frame house on a small acreage in a rural area north of Oologah.

Adacia’s mother wasn’t a part of her life after the kids went to live with their father and they remained estranged over the years. In spite of that, people say she seemed well-loved and well-cared for by her grandparents.

If she was struggling, it didn’t show in her early years.

She was one of those kids who seems to have flown under the radar. When people remember her, they mainly talk about her being quiet, polite and unassuming, a kid who never caused trouble.  

“Shy” is the word used most often when people describe her.

It’s the way Emily Owens who used to work for the school district, remembers seeing her.

“She was pretty quiet,” Owns said. “I mainly remember seeing her in the hallway alone. She might have been with one other girl sometimes. You didn’t just see her hanging out.”

She was a three-year member of the color guard for the “Stallion Battalion” marching band but her year book photos don’t reveal any other activities.

People who knew her well and her family members say she’s a talented artist but it wasn’t something everyone knew about.

Adacia didn’t do much to draw attention to herself and was named “Most Timid” in her senior class.

“She was a little on the shy side but once she got to know you she was a good friend and loyal,” Branstetter said.

Adacia attended college at Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, Oklahoma for a semester then came home and tried to take classes at Rogers State University in Claremore, Oklahoma, but her aunt says she quit because she couldn’t afford to pay tuition.

She moved to Stillwater, Oklahoma to be with her high school boyfriend about eight months ago. 

The problems begin

A few years ago, Adacia decided to try to build a relationship with her mother, who still lived in the area but hadn’t been part of her life in many years, Branstetter said.

It didn’t work out the way she had hoped and Adacia had a strong reaction, according to Branstetter.

“She had sort of a breakdown,” Branstetter said. “She tried to talk to her mom and her mom didn’t want to listen to her. She just shut down.”

The family got Adacia professional help and she was on medication for a while. Then eventually, it was decided she didn’t need to continue taking it.

Branstetter says Adacia’s boyfriend since high school, Jesse Gaylord, told them Adacia was dealing with issues caused by untreated diabetes but the family wasn’t aware of that.

“None of us know what happened,” she said. “We just don’t understand.”

If she was still suffering from mental or emotional issues, the family wasn’t aware of it, Branstetter said.

“We didn’t know,” she said. “We weren’t trained to recognize the signs. We saw signs several years ago but as far as we know she was doing great.”

Hard to fathom 

Adacia seemed happy and carefree Friday night when the family brought her grandmother to Stillwater and they attended their first Walkaround, Branstetter said. They met her at work at Freddy’s Frozen Custard and Steakburgers to share a sundae.

Branstetter spent the night in Stillwater and attended the homecoming parade with a friend the next morning. As far as she knew, Adacia went to work.

She says she was walking toward downtown to do some shopping after the parade ended when she heard the first sirens. As it became obvious the emergency response was growing in intensity, Branstetter called her mother, Adacia’s grandmother, and asked her to turn the television on.

“Mom said, ‘That looks like Adacia’s car,’” Branstetter said. 

They thought it was strange but it didn’t occur to them it could actually be Adacia’s car.

As news of the collision spread, Branstetter decided to go ahead and attend the football game as planned, not realizing her niece was involved.

When Adacia’s arrest was announced, Branstetter’s friend began reading the information from her phone as they were sitting in the stadium. She says she didn’t hear the whole thing but decided she needed to call home. When her mother picked up, Branstetter says, she was sobbing and couldn’t speak.

“My brother was home asleep,” she said. “Mom screamed when it came across the news and it woke him up.”

The entire family is shocked and can’t imagine the girl they love could have hurt so many people. 

As they grieve for their own, they grieve for the victims and their families. Branstetter says they think of them constantly and pray for them daily.

They also try to wrap their minds around what has happened and how their family came to be involved in such a tragedy.

It doesn’t make sense when they think about the Adacia they’ve always known and they hope the investigation produces answers.

“She’s just an ordinary girl with a beautiful smile and a beautiful heart,” Branstetter said. “She loved the Lord and she loved people.”